Van Toffler (born December 5, 1958) is the CEO of digital media production and distribution company Gunpowder & Sky, which he co-founded in 2016. He was formerly the President of Viacom Media Networks Music & Logo Group at

Viacom Viacom, an abbreviation of Video and Audio Communications, may refer to: * Viacom (1952–2006), a former American media conglomerate * Viacom (2005–2019), a former company spun off from the original Viacom * Viacom18, a joint venture between Par ...

from March 2008 to April 2015.

Career

Toffler was the former President of Viacom Media Networks Music & Logo Group at

from March 2008 until he announced on February 17, 2015 he was leaving Viacom Media Networks in April 2015 to "launch a content creation and acquisition company tentatively named Below the Radar. Toffler will be leaving his post in April, but will continue to executive produce a number of Viacom’s flagship events including the VMAs, one of the signature franchises he launched." He joined the start-up networks in 1987. On February 19, 2015, Viacom announced that Doug Herzog would replace him. In January 2016, Toffler, together with Floris Bauer and Otter Media formed Gunpowder & Sky, a digital content company aimed at

millennials Millennials, also known as Generation Y or Gen Y, are the Western demographic cohort following Generation X and preceding Generation Z. Researchers and popular media use the early 1980s as starting birth years and the mid-1990s to early 2000 ...

. He was also an associate with the law firm of Kaye, Scholer, Fierman, Hays and Handler.

Education

Toffler graduated from

George W. Hewlett High School George W. Hewlett High School (also known as Hewlett High School, or HHS, and replacing Woodmere High School) is a four-year public high school in Hewlett Bay Park, New York, United States. Located in the Five Towns area of Long Island, it is t ...

in 1976, The

George Washington University , mottoeng = "God is Our Trust" , established = , type = Private federally chartered research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.8 billion (2022) , preside ...

in 1980 and has a law degree from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

(1983).

Honors

In 2012, ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' listed him as #35 in the Billboard Power 100. In 2004, he was named the City of Hope's 2004 Spirit of Life honoree for "raising awareness of social and health issues through such programming as '' The Osbournes'' and '' Tom Green Cancer Special.''"

Personal life

Toffler has two children, Matthew and Rachel, from his marriage to Cheryl Brahen (married July 12, 1987).

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Toffler, Van George W. Hewlett High School alumni George Washington University alumni University of Pennsylvania Law School alumni Living people American television executives American chief executives in the media industry People from The Five Towns, New York People from Staten Island 1958 births MTV executives Kaye Scholer associates